RichiePrimo

Buddies

None so far

2 posts in 1603 days

Location: Sewell, NJWebsite:

Worked in a lumber yard and mill shop way back in the early '70's for a few years, interesting work and great atmosphere, which I enjoyed very much. That is, until I met my boss's daughter, who quickly became my steady girlfriend. She was his only daughter, he was an ultra-strict father, which is a combustible mixture, and ended my lumber career in a cloud of sawdust.

Well, him and I made our peace but he's since passed on, and she's been my wife just south of 35 years now. We've produced two wonderful daughters, who've seamlessly taken full control of our family business and, in doing so, allowed their old man the chance to retire early, which provided me the time to enjoy the smell of sawdust once again.

Last August I decided to convert a section of our basement into a full-blown home theater, complete with projector, surround system and 135" screen. This meant repositioning a wall, building a seating riser and countless details that needed improvising on so many aspects. I was pumped and really determined to take this on with my own two hands. But luckily, early on a contractor friend of mine stopped by and... BANG, what a rude awakening!

He pointed out that I was doing everything "the hard way" - which meant using a hammer, hand saw, sandpaper on a block - you know... like most DIY people did in the 70's. The only "power tools" I owned were an old corded drill (no idea why) and a dusty, no-name type of Shop Vac (in case of a flood). The only thing that would've made me feel worse, is if I were listening to Disco music while I worked. But I digress - so let's fast forward to the present...

My Home Theater has long been completed - with my own two hands - drawing rave reviews from all concerned, including my contractor friend. The renovation of my entire basement is nearly completed. The keepsakes (junk) in my large storage shed have been relocated or donated. The shed (workshop) now houses; dual-base router with table, belt and orbital sander, brad and nail guns, drill/impact driver set, saws - miter/table/jig/reciprocating and band. Plus the usual assortment of clamps, jigs, bits, blades... you get the picture. These things grow like weeds over time.

So, my tale does have a happy ending, of which I imagine many here can identify. Combine a passion to learn, along with constant visits to informative sites like this, a diverse selection of books, hours of related YouTube videos, countless trips to Lowe's/Home Depot (with equally infinite credit card swipes), plus the invaluable lessons of trial and error - and this old man can proudly call himself a true Lumberjock... 21st Century style!!

BTW - I equally enjoy writing as well... but I'll assume you've probably realized that by now ;-)

5 comments so far

Welcome to Ljs a world wide community were there are great people,super projects and great woodworkers.Enjoy !Because I often get asked questions by new members I’ve included the answers to the most( FAQ) along with my welcoming message to LJs.You should know that posting questions or projects here (your profile page) will not get you very many responses’ just because it’s your profile page not part of a main forum. To post in a main forum read below.Want to know how to post something? See the drop-down box underneath my Lumberjocks in the upper right hand corner. Click on the arrow and select which type of posting you want to make (Project, Blog entry, Forum topic). This will take you to the appropriate page and you just fill in the form.Sending Private messages(PMs) to other membersClick on the word” home” next to the profile picture of the member you want to contact ,then click on “send message” http://lumberjocks.com/help/getting-startedNeed help with posting or other questions ?Contact: Martin SojKa ( LJs founder)http://lumberjocks.com/msojkaMs DebbieP AKA Debbie Pribele (Ljs community manager)http://lumberjocks.com/MsDebbiePJust for the record even though I have a large number of post I’m not involved with LJs management ,I’m just another member.